Chelsea locked horns with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium earlier today as they looked to pick up a win in the London derby. The Blues made a quick start to the game and took the lead in the 15th minute when Romelu Lukaku tapped the ball into the Arsenal net. Reece James doubled Chelsea’s advantage just 20 minutes later with a fine finish as Thomas Tuchel’s men went into the half-time interval 2-0 up on the scoreline.
The Gunners showed some fight in the second half but it was not enough to change the outcome of the match. Chelsea ended up cruising to a 2-0 win in the London derby.
Let’s take a look at how each Chelsea player performed during the match against the Gunners.
GK: Edouard Mendy – 7/10
The Blues custodian was tidy with his passing and made a few solid saves to secure a clean sheet on the road.
CB: Cesar Azpilicueta – 7/10
The Spaniard dealt with mostly everything that came his way on the defensive end of the field. He will be quite content with the shutout.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 7/10
He won a few 50-50 aerial duels and cleared the danger when required. It was another solid defensive display from him today.
CB: Antonio Rudiger – 7/10
Rudiger deserves a lot of credit for neutralizing the threat of Gabriel Martinelli for most of the contest.
RM: Reece James – 9/10
James was excellent today as he defended with a lot of conviction and gave a good account of himself in the final third as well. He created some decent chances for others around him and bagged an assist for setting up Lukaku’s opener. The English sensation even managed to score a great goal in the 35th minute to put daylight between the two sides.
CM: Jorginho – 7/10
The Italian midfield ace offered decent protection for his teammates at the back and created one key chance going forward.
CM: Mateo Kovacic – 6.5/10
Kovacic worked hard during his time on the field but struggled to influence the game in the opposition half. He got replaced in the 71st minute.
LM: Marcos Alonso – 7.5/10
The Spanish full-back orchestrated a lot of excellent opportunities for his teammates but was unfortunate not to earn an assist.
RAM: Mason Mount – 8/10
Mount caused all sorts of problems for the Arsenal defenders and was responsible for setting up James’ goal.
LAM: Kai Havertz – 6.5/10
Havertz was not shy of having a shot but there was no goal for him today.
ST: Romelu Lukaku – 8.5/10
The Belgian striker made a dream start to his life back at Stamford Bridge as he scored the all-important opening goal in the 15th minute. He was a real handful for the Arsenal centre-backs and caused all kinds of headaches for them throughout the game.
Substitutes:
CM: N’Golo Kante – 6/10
The Frenchman added some energy to Chelsea’s midfield.
RAM: Hakim Ziyech – N/A
Ziyech didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
ST: Timo Werner – N/A
The German attacker hardly had any time to influence the game.
